


constructive criticism

by teavious



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Character Study, Dialogue, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Outer Space, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Platonic Soulmates, Relationship Study, Space Stations, Tumblr Prompt, prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-25 23:25:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13223448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teavious/pseuds/teavious
Summary: She tastes her title in her mouth, commander, puts it next to her name and she laughs until she can’t quite differentiate it from crying. Doug Eiffel has been damn reluctant of separating the two, returning to the familiarity of her title with the easiness of a slip of tongue, and she has loved him so much for it – because, in the end, it was proof of his trust in her.





	constructive criticism

**Author's Note:**

> Minkowski and Eiffel are my top two favourite characters in this podcast, so it was impossible that I wouldn't write for the two of them. I personally really loved [this prompt list for them](https://trashmoutheds.tumblr.com/post/166330700644/send-me-a-pairing-and-a-line-of-dialogue-and-ill), so this is what I'm trying to do in this collection! Do them justice with the help of pre-written dialogue lines! While I ship them both romantically and platonically, most of my writing will be platonic focused bc I totally dig platonic anything between these two.

The walls are creaking again. Yeah, Minkowski likes that verb, let’s keep it like that. _Creaking_. It keeps things mechanical; it makes them somewhat fixable, realer. Not a problem coming from her sleepless mind, not weirdness brought upon them by a glowing star that should not be fucking glowing in the first place. Not _something_ that she has no words to name, that her mind cannot comprehend.

The walls are certainly not moaning in pain, strained under unseen forces. She’d ask Hera if she hears it too, but Minkowski figures that she’d have said something about it by now if it were the case. So it remains solely her trouble – and well, it fits better now, punishment for her inability to keep her crew safe. Never mind the hours in the middle of the night that she spends staring at the ceiling, replaying each decision and deeming them all wrong.

Her mental sanity is not the only thing slowly decaying. She thinks of the ship, the alarmingly increase in frequency between alarms: how with each of Hera’s status reports, they’re one step further away from ever making it back to their homes. No matter how much Lovelace slaves over engines, no matter how much Hilbert works out circuits: they all end up at the end of the day, crashing on chairs, tired and frustrated, having nothing to show for all the work they put in.

They don’t really talk besides crew decisions. Hilbert is released, but at this point, both his companions have not much to lose, and there’s nothing like helplessness and despair to bond two former opposite sides together. Lovelace is mostly silent: she snaps at Hera when big mistakes occur, she tries to comfort Minkowski with one shoulder pat, that she shakes off like it weights too much, like it burns through her uniform. It’s not this she wants, not the display of emotions she deserves. The awkwardness floats in the air for several days, no one to laugh it off, no one to make even bigger trouble, for the last one to be forgotten.

After two weeks of barely sleeping, Hilbert finds her dozing off at their communications officer’s desk. He says nothing, merely turns around on his heel, disappearing from her view. She gets up, straightens her spine like she’s a bird ruffling its feathers, and by the time Hilbert is back, she’s deep into a conversation with Hera about any other alien contact. He silently presses some sleeping pills into her palm, squeezes her hand in his in something akin to understanding, though she’s not sure she considers the doctor able of empathy, and says nothing.  Minkowski appreciates him for this; the lack of drama.

Though she’d lie if she’d say she doesn’t miss a kind of drama-seeking man.

She spends 30 minutes looking at herself in the mirror: taking in the longer hair, the deeper dark circles under her eyes. She tastes her title in her mouth, _commander_ , puts it next to her name and she laughs until she can’t quite differentiate it from crying. Doug Eiffel has been damn reluctant of separating the two, returning to the familiarity of her title with the easiness of a slip of tongue, and she has loved him so much for it – because, in the end, it was proof of his trust in her.

And she’s so underserving of it. She so selfishly wishes it would have all been different.  She wants another chance, to prove to him that he made no mistake.

“Eiffel …“ her voice trembles, and she has to hold onto the sink to steady herself and continue. “I just really need to have you here right now.”

He would know what to do – even in a very stupid, very improbable idea. He’d scream a bit, half-panic, half-incredulity that no one ever listens to him. She wishes she could tell him now: that she always listened, no matter how often she agreed or not with his words. But there’s no one to hear her now, so she diligently takes Hilbert pills and falls, finally, into restful slumber.

The next morning, Lovelace punches her in the face for wanting to haul herself in Eiffel’s office again, and with the taste of blood in her mouth, she thinks. _Finally._ She pushes herself right again, spits words she doesn’t mean, and takes the shove and the next blow almost smiling. _Finally._

 

**Author's Note:**

> f you enjoy what I'm doing, consider donating to my [ko-fi page](https://ko-fi.com/teavious)! If you enjoy _how_ I'm doing it, leave a request with your donation, and I will write it for you! Thanks for reading, let's talk on [tumblr](http://teavious.tumblr.com/) or [twitter!](https://twitter.com/_teavious/)


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